Ruby DraayerIt’s over halfway through the season now, and the Ole Miss Rebels are sitting at 6-1 on the season. After a big win over LSU this past weekend, all eyes will be on the Rebs as they head to Auburn to take on the Tigers. As of Wednesday, the Auburn Tigers are favored to win this matchup despite the Rebels being a top-10 team.
I’d like to paint a picture. Two years ago, it’s the last game of the season, and Ole Miss was fighting to get to a five-win season. Matt Corral was getting ready to transfer and was not even the starter. That team finished the year with an abysmal 4-8 record. Flash forward to this year. The Rebels are already bowl eligible. Corral has a very real chance to win the Heisman, and Ole Miss is staring down a very likely 11-1 season finish. It’s almost unbelievable.
While there is still a lot of football left to play, Ole Miss has already had a historic season. The last time they won in Tennessee was in 1983. The last time that Ole Miss beat LSU was in 2015, and as they head to Auburn, this team will be looking for their first win in Jordan-Hare since 2015.
“Very hard place to play,” Kiffin said of Auburn. “Even though we’re ranked in the Top 10, we’re the underdogs.”
It is not easy to win in Auburn, but if the Rebels are going to get the win, this is the year to do it. The Tigers have a first-year head coach under Bryan Harsin after firing Gus Malzahn in the middle of last year’s season. Harsin has led this year’s team to a 5-2 season, with losses to Penn State and Georgia. While this is nothing to complain about from a first-year coaching staff, they do have one fatal flaw. They have continued to name Bo Nix the starting quarterback for this entire season. Arguably the most-hyped quarterback prospect in the last 20 years, Nix has done just enough to keep Auburn fans on board, but for the rest of college football fans, he is seen as a sub-average quarterback who happened to beat Alabama in 2019.
Now, while saying this, it’s hard to deny that Nix has been pretty solid the last few weeks. He loves to scramble but has done a good job at getting the ball off. Nix loves to throw the ball out of bounds to the fans, but he does avoid the sack. Auburn is coming off of a bye week, but in the Tiger’s last matchup against Arkansas, Nix threw for 292 yards with over 80% accuracy. While impressive, it is likely that his throwing accuracy won’t matter in this game. Auburn has one of the best running backs in the SEC with Tank Bigsby. For this matchup, the Tigers will be running the ball a good chunk of the game.
The Ole Miss defense has struggled against the run during SEC play but was able to handle the LSU offense this past weekend. In an unexpected turn of events, the Rebel defense leads the SEC with 3.5 sacks per game, a drastic improvement from last year. Auburn’s offensive line is full of veterans but has been subject to scrutiny this year, as they’ve struggled against opposing defensive lines. If the Rebels want to continue to make improvements on the defense, they will need to be able to stop the run and battle in the trenches to put pressure on Bo Nix. After a dominant performance against LSU, Chance Campbell and Sam Williams each earned defensive accolades from the SEC. Campbell was named SEC Defensive player of the week, and Williams was named SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the week.
Offensively, the Rebels will have their way with the Auburn defense. They have been virtually unstoppable this season, and this game will be no different. This offense will most likely run the ball heavily, and after an absolute beat down on the ground last week, the running back room will have their hands full again this week.
Ole Miss has struggled with injuries and penalties the entire year, and this week will be no different. Veteran offensive lineman, Ben Brown, announced via Instagram Tuesday that he will not play in an Ole Miss uniform anymore. Despite his extra year of eligibility, Brown made it clear that he would not be returning. He suffered a complete tear in his bicep during the Tennessee game and underwent surgery to repair it. Unfortunately, this ruled him out for the season. Along with him, star wide receiver Jonathan Mingo will likely not return this season. Wide receiver Braylon Sanders missed last weekend with an apparent hamstring injury, and it is still unclear whether he will get any action this weekend in Auburn. Heisman contender Matt Corral suffered a small ankle injury during Tennessee but played through it against LSU. Tight end Chase Rogers has all signs pointing to him missing another week with an injury.
This will be the game to watch this weekend, and for your Rebels, it will be the difference between a 9-3 season, or an 11-1 season from a second-year head coach. A win over the Tigers means coming home to a three-game homestand and then traveling to Starkville to finish out the season. Beating Auburn is no small feat, and fans will find out quickly what this Ole Miss team is really made of.
Tune in to watch the Rebels on Oct. 30 at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
